The Author's POV

"I warned you didn't I?"

Honestly, though I expected something to happen I didn't expect it to happen right after I returned from my toilet trip.

It felt as if I missed out on all of the fun.

"it's you?"

Releasing Amanda, Elijah stood up and looked at me who had just come back from the bathroom.

"kuhh...huff...huff!"

Looking at Amanda who was gripping her neck heavily gulping for air I pretty much got the gist of what was happening.

The event had already started.

"Rank 1750 Ren Dover"

"...hm? Yes?"

Turning my attention back to Elijah who had just called me, I instantly noticed his relaxed attitude.

The way he was looking at me irked me, but I didn't say anything. Judging from the pressure he was releasing he was at least rank if not rank.

But fortunately for me, thanks to all the training I did, the pressure wasn't weighing down on me much. The fact that he was primarily focused on Amanda also helped me.

Judging from how relaxed he seemed, it looked like he didn't see me as a threat.

'Perfect'

Smirking to myself, I started to devise a plan.

well...since he was looking down on me, I may as well capitalize on his carelessness.

You see...one of the greatest things about keeping a low profile was that no one knew what you were truly capable of.

This especially worked in my favor as the [Keiki style] was primarily a one hit one kill sword art.

All I needed was one clean hit and he was done for.

The fact that I kept a low profile and chose not to expose my strength helped me buy an opening.

In fact, even though I said all of this, I wasn't really confident even if I caught him by surprise.

Although there was a chance I could kill him if I was really lucky, those chances were slim.

It just wasn't easy to bridge the gap between F and D ranks. Though I practiced a peerless five-star manual technique, I would at most be able to graze him if I confronted him directly. He was just that much better than me...

Each rank was fundamentally different from the other. Each rank increase was like an increase in strength by a factor greater than 2.

Bridging one rank was already hard for me, two? Almost impossible.

If not for his arrogance, those chances would've never been higher than zero.

Knowing this, I had prepared beforehand.

Having learned my lesson since the dungeon incident, I devised a little safe plan for me in case the situation turned serious.

Before coming to the party, I messaged Thomas and asked him for a favor.

Since I more or less knew something was going to happen at the party, I predicted that Elijah was going to install some sort of dimensional space which prevented any outside interference.

A dimensional space was a pocket dimension separate from the outside world. Everything that happened inside of the dimension was separate from the real world preventing anyone from noticing that something was wrong. It created an illusion to people making it seem that everything was normal, when in fact something else was going on inside. No sound or transmissions could be leaked preventing people from calling for backup. It was the perfect device to hide a crime.

Knowing this, when I messaged Thomas, I specifically told him that if by chance in the next four hours my phone suddenly lost signal, he was to send an encrypted message to Alexander Stern, Amanda's father as well as the authorities.

In the message, I directly wrote that a villain was attacking this specific location and many students were in danger, I also emphasized that Amanda was one of the said students.

because I had asked Thomas, who was a high ranking member of the black

I had to do was stall for

everyone was on the floor passed out, I knew that I didn't have

their system,

the situation was unfavorable, I knew

at my skill bar, I instantly used my new

[Monarch's indifference]

looked like what it was before. Slowly, everything around me started resembling chess pieces. The hall turned into a three-dimensional space with pawns

unevenly calmed down. Following my heartbeat, my

cared for Amanda. I no longer cared for everyone in the hall. I no longer cared

the chess pieces

...

"w-what's happening?"

staggered. Leaning against the wall, Ren heavily panted for

wondering why you weren't affected by the

staggering all over the place like

seems like you're somewhat immune to the drug...pity that in the end

at Elijah with wide

"D-drug?"

but I don't have much time to talk with

direction, Elijah's eyes were

see...I have bone to pick

"khh"

hair, Elijah coldly looked

in my class you repeatedly yawned and acted bored...was

-Slap!

red mark appeared

-Slap!

should sit quietly and listen to the lecture

-Slap!

dared

-Slap!

about to have my fun with Amanda you came in

-Slap!

of tact for the fact

Ren's face continuously, his pale face slowly turned purple as his lips started to

scene in the distance, Amanda barely managed to sit up

...was he all talk?

thought that maybe he was hiding his strength. Moreover, the

she was about to gather all her remaining energy to shoot Elijah, she felt two

eyes emotionlessly looking at her. Though he was being slapped continuously by Elijah, his eyes never wavered. They were the eyes of a predator that was looking for the

she was doing, Amanda looked back

still be

being tortured by Elijah, and his expression twisted in pain, his eyes which were devoid of any emotion were staring at her almost as

and quietly gathered

know what he was planning, she had this inexplicable feeling that only if

that Amanda was slowly accumulating the mana into her bow, Ren

you're being slapped senseless and yet you still have

-Slap!

face, his head twisted to

-Slap!

Ren's face twisted to

you asked for it, I will gladly pick

-Slap! -Slap! -Slap!

loud sounds of slaps reverberated across the hall. Soon, Elijah stopped as he looked down. Beneath him, Ren's battered face could be

"Let's end this"

to go for the kill. Though he was sure that no one was going to interfere for the next two hours, he still needed to

nails increased in length

"Goodbye"

-Wooosh!

neck, he heard a whistling